Dynaxys LLC will administer the state of Maryland’s pharmaceutical program for people with HIV and AIDS. The state awarded the Silver Spring-based company the five-year, $192-million contract earlier this month. The company’s administrative fee over the contract period is estimated at nearly $1 million.
“We are thrilled to provide services to the state of Maryland under this critical program for Maryland residents,” Kathleen Conley, Dynaxys vice president operations, said in a statement provided to Elevation DC.
The contract is a renewal of outsourcing services provided by Dynaxys for the past 15 years. Founded in 1981, the 70-employee, woman-owned company offers a variety of services, including software development and hosting and accounting, primarily to government agencies.
In 1990, the United States Congress passed the Ryan White
CARE Act, a federally funded program for low-income, uninsured and underinsured people with HIV/AIDS.
Dennis Booker, of the Prevention and Health Promotion Administration in Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, says every state has an HIV/AIDS program through which it can apply for a federal grant to help administer the mandate.
The Maryland AIDS Drug Assistance Program (MADAP) serves people who don’t’ have the money or the insurance to pay for drugs for their condition. Booker estimates that 7,000 to 8,000 Maryland residents are eligible for the program each year, of whom 75 percent obtain drugs through the program.
Maryland determines eligibility for MADAP. Dynaxys processes bills from and issues reimbursements to participating pharmacies and insurance companies.
“They take care of payments, and keep track of records. It’s more cost efficient [for the state] to outsource to them,” says Booker.
MADAP’s figure of $192 million for drugs over the next five years is an estimate. It is based on the previous five-year period. But Booker expects the figure to decrease as more people are insured under the Affordable Care Act and as the price of drugs comes down.
“When they first came out, some of the drugs cost $10,000 per year,” he says, adding that Dynaxys’ administrative fee of $942,195 is based on a fixed price submitted for the contract.